Here’s a thought experiment about harm and homosexuality in the Alliance Church

Here’s an idea.

I’m going to start a religion. We’re going to preach “good” things and form communities and develop a huge following with hundreds of thousands of followers. We’re going to participate in civic life, publish newsletters and participate in fora, and spread our moral principles. We’re going to build churches. Many churches. We’re going to be a charity, and raise money toward our community interests and very very carefully never spend more than ten percent of our national budget on political endeavors. We’re going to help our families and our communities to raise their children. We’re going to be a moral authority and a beacon of light and provide emotional and ethical support to the people in our lives.

Here’s the catch. We’re going to have a doctrine that spells out our beliefs about heterosexual conduct. Heterosexual conduct will be sinful.

We’ll love hets. We’ll love and support the heterosexual folks and embrace them and actively recruit them and bring them into our flock. But we’ll oppose their failings. When they act on their dispositions, by hugging, or kissing, or coupling, or having sex, or holding hands, we’ll hate their conduct.

Love the sinner, but hate the sin. We will teach our children not to sin. We will emotionally support each other not to sin. We will help our community, through sermon, and preaching, and public relations and communications to avoid sinful behaviour.

Then we’ll use laws, designed to protect freedom of religion, to defend our schools, our families, our teachings, our political lobbying, our church doctrine and our public discourse.